Display devices are designed to display an image. Recently, curved display devices in which a display surface is curved to enhance immersion are being developed.
Such a curved display device is manufactured in such a way that a display panel is curved into a desired shape by reducing a thickness of the display panel. A manufacturer who produces display panels may design a display panel to reduce the thickness thereof in order to manufacture a curved display panel.
However, a manufacturer who does not have capability to produce display panels manufactures a curved display device through a procedure of purchasing a ready-made display panel and then etching the display panel to make the display panel curved.
A conventional method of etching a display panel to produce a curved display device is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1437534 (published on Sep. 15, 2014), entitled “Method of Etching Substrate to Produce Curved Display Panel”.
The conventional method of etching a substrate to produce a curved display panel includes forming a protective layer for protecting a region of a display panel in which a liquid crystal layer is formed under the condition that a drive circuit unit is coupled to the display panel, protecting the drive circuit unit against an etchant, masking non-etching sections of first and second substrates, and etching surfaces of the first and second substrates while holding the masked display panel.
The conventional method of etching a substrate to produce a curved display panel performs a masking procedure on non-etching sections to form protrusions and, as such, a slim display panel, which is easily bent by gripping the protrusions and exerting force upon the display panel, may be manufactured.
In the conventional method of etching a substrate to produce a curved display panel, however the masking procedure is performed in such a manner that the non-etching sections are not etched at all by masking elements. As a result, it may be impossible to set a thickness of protrusions to be formed.
Furthermore, when a display panel is etched to have a further reduced thickness, thickness of the protrusions becomes relatively larger, thus causing breakage of regions between the display panel and the protrusions when the display panel is bent.
In addition, since the masking procedure is performed while the non-etching sections are covered with caps, it may be difficult to form protrusions having various shapes. Furthermore, since the masking procedure must be performed a large number of times, a period of time required for etching is increased.